The US Embassy in Cairo has denied the accuracy of Monday’s front page story in Al-Masry Al-Youm in which it alleged that Washington pressured foreign states not to aid Egypt financially due to a dispute between the Obama administration and Egypt’s military rulers regarding presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei.
Quoting anonymous source, the paper said on Monday that the US pressured Arab countries not to give Egypt the promised-financial aid packages intended to ease the country’s troubled economy.
In a brief note on its website entitled “Correction for the Record,” the embassy said: “There is no truth to press reports alleging that the US asked Arab countries to refrain from providing financial assistance to Egypt. To the contrary, we are continuing to engage other international partners to look for ways to support Egypt during the transition period.”
Although unacknowledged by the embassy’s note, the article also alleged that Washington pressured western powers to refrain from providing aid to Egypt. The reason cited for the purported American policy was the ruling military council’s refusal to appoint presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei as prime minister following the resignation of former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf last November.
